Dance to be Free
by Gardenia Queen
Summary: Emma has a special way to cope when things get bad in her mind. A mechanism that keeps her from running, sometimes.


**A/N : TW! Contains mentions of panic attack.**

 **This is a OS I never finished, so I decided to still present it to you like this. Enjoy!**

* * *

She couldn't breathe, it was like the world was closing itself around her. Her heart rate heightened, all of her muscles went rigid, almost ready to snap, and her breath was shallow. She clawed at her chest, just below her breastbone, as if it could help her breathe more easily. The panic she felt rising in every bones she had was overwhelming, and she was sure she was about to die. There was no way of rationalizing her panic attack.

So Emma run from the Mayoral office, bolting between the sea of people streaming in the halls, and ran for air. She had one way of dealing with those moments, and she hadn't had one in such a long time that it almost felt foreign.

Once in her bug, she started to breathe again.

o0o

To say that Regina was worried was an understatement. She had never seen Emma in such a state. The sweet savior had come to her, just after her mother had told her that they had a baby on the way - one which the blonde thought was a meant to replace her – and started to panic, her breathing irregular, her eyes lost far away, and physical sings that looked like she wasn't able to breathe properly.

So when she bolted from the office, the mayor decided to follow her friend, to be sure she was ok, and that she didn't do something rash.

She followed the blonde curls a moments, before she had to follow the flow of the townspeople that were exiting a meeting that had taken place in the building.

When she finally got out, she looked around, and she saw the bug rolling down the street, fast, too fast. She had to do something, because Emma could very well hurt herself in the state she worked herself on.

Regina hopped in her Mercedes, and followed the road that the bug had been on.

o0o

Emma had dealt with those kinds of attacks before, and she knew how to calm herself. Once her breathing had been back under control, and the major parts of the symptoms had gone as well, since she remembered that she wasn't in any danger of dying, she put the keys in the ignition, and left. The tears, because of the guilt, because of the panic, and for all the emotions that she felt started to roll down her cheeks, making her vision a bit blurry.

She knew that she had to deal with what was left of her emotions as fast as possible, so she strained the bug to go faster, until she reached her destination. She knew she had been reckless in her driving, but she had to do fast. She didn't wanted to go into another attack.

Once she arrived, she parked her car on the street, seemingly always deserted and took her sport bag that she always kept in the back of the car, before entering the building.

o0o

The mayor had lost the track of the bug, once the savior speeded even more. She definitely had another way to find her back, but she would need to go the rest of the way walking.

She put her car in an empty parking lot, and when she got out of the car, she used her magic to make the tires lines appear on the road. It was the easiest way to track Emma.

In a fast pace, she followed the trail. She wanted to get to her friend as fast as possible and try to help her. She knew what a panic attack was, and it seemed that Emma did too, but when you were in the middle of one, it was hard to come back by yourself. The brunette was worried of the consequences. And how hadn't she knew the savior was prone to those types of attacks? It could have been good to know, just in case that something had happened.

Or maybe Emma hadn't told anyone because she perceived that as a weakness? Regina knew her fair share about concealing weaknesses, and it looked like something the blonde could very well try to do.

The queen saw the death trap before the end of the trail, and started to walk faster, with more intend in her step. Maybe Emma was still in the car? There wasn't many thing around, houses and a theater.

So, when the Mayor came across the bug and looked inside, she was a bit worried to see that no one was in there. The only place Emma could have been was inside of the theater, but what would she be doing there?

o0o

Emma pushed the doors of the theater open, and ran past the security guard. She knew he was alone, and the fact that she knew him, because he was always there when she came, granted her the privilege to go to the stage without questions asked.

She ran to the side of the stage, hidden by heavy red velvet curtains, and threw her bag on the floor, before taking off her leather jacket, her boots and her jeans. She opened her bag and took out black shorts and put them on. They were almost painted on her, but they always helped.

Then, she took out her new footwear out of the bag.

o0o

Regina threw open the doors of the theater, expecting to see the savior, but what greeted her was the unexpected sight of a security guard, sitting behind the tickets booth.

He looked up from the book he was reading, starteled at the sound of the doors trown open with strength, and the brunette looked at him with a scowl.

"Have you seen a blonde, with a red leather jacket, tight jeans and brown boots?" the mayor asked, with urgency in her voice.

"You mean Emma? Yeah, she came running minutes ago and went straight to the stage. She seemed more distraught than usual."

"You mean it isn't the first time that she comes here?"

"Hell no! Usually she came when she is upset or feeling too much, to put a damper on her feelings. I've seen her, and it is almost magical."

"Can I go see her? I am worried for her."

"Yes, of course. It's the first time that someone comes for her. Maybe it'll help her to get out of her shell."

"Yes, well. How do I go in?"

"Oh, sorry! Take the first door at your right at the end of the hall, and you should be just in the front row."

The ex-evil queen didn't even took the time to thank him, she strode toward the door, consumed by thoughts of what could Emma be doing on the stage to help herself.

She arrived at the door, and slowly pushed.

o0o

Emma put the pointes out of her bag and on her feet, lacing the ribbons around her ankles, and pressed play on her small sound system. She closed her eyes to let herself in the music and went on the stage.

The notes of the Suite no. 1 for Cello by Bach moved her, and she lost herself on the music, to exude all of her worries. She let her body move for her, slowly preparing her body to move at will.

The sensation was so good and freeing that she never heard the door on the side opening.

o0o

The first thing that happened was the music. Regina was without word. Classical music hardly seemed the kind of music that the blonde would listen to. Then, she moved inside the theater and the door closed behind her with a soft "thump".

She lifted her eyes to watch the scene, and to her surprise the sherrif was dancing. Oh, not any kind of dance, no, but she was doing ballet, and pretty well, as far as she could tell. It was not really impressive, but Regina was flabbergasted because of that hidden talent. Who knew that Emma, a bit boyish on the sides, was in fact a ballet dancer?

She had probably worked hard to hide it from the world, and, seeing the free and open expression on her face now, it was easy to see why.

Regina walked on the back of the room to have a better view of the stage her friend was currently dancing on, lightly.

The painting of what was happening was quite beautiful. Then the music changed, and the melancholy of a piano composition took the place of the deep sound of the cello that was playing seconds prior.

The dancing on the scene became somehow less flawed and freer, with moves that hadn't been there in the song before.

The mayor knew a bit about ballet, and she was impressed. The piqués-tournés that the blonde did were perfect, and her fouettés were grace and poise. The dance in itself was speaking of sadness and pain, like she poured her heart on the floor of the old show room.

Minutes passed, and Regina was happy to watch and awed at the fragile perfection of the dancer. She was good, she had talent, but before all, she had the emotions to pour on the dancefloor for the world to see.

The dance was making the mayor feel a deep, bone-crushing loneliness, a rejection, a new place to leave with people she had come to grow fond of, to leave behind, before anyone could hurt her.

She knew this was all what Emma was feeling, and it was so beautiful, and heart wrenching that she kept on watching.


End file.
